SAN FRANCISCO — Drugmaker AbbVie will “perform well” with whatever policy changes President-elect Trump makes, the company’s CEO said Wednesday morning.
Just minutes before AbbVie presented at the JPMorgan Healthcare Investor Conference, Trump gave a press conference in which he called for “new bidding procedures for the drug industry,” indicating he wants to crack down on drugmakers that price products expensively or raise the price of existing drugs.
AbbVie Chief Executive Richard Gonzalez said he heard Trump’s statement as he was walking over to the presentation room, so he hadn’t had much time to consider a response.
But Gonzalez insisted that “if things are evaluated appropriately,” companies such as AbbVie will “perform well in the marketplace” regardless of new policies.
“I certainly don’t speak for the industry, but I would say that what we fundamentally believe in is being able to bring innovative medicines to the marketplace that are not only beneficial for patients but also over the long-term provide economic benefits to the healthcare system,” he said.
“I don’t have a crystal ball as to what changes the president has in mind, but we’re certainly interested in being an active participant in that,” he said.
By calling for new bidding procedures, Trump may have been referring to allowing the federal government to negotiate lower Medicare Part D drug prices with pharmaceutical companies, a policy he backed during his campaign. The idea is deeply unpopular with the industry.
“We’re the largest buyer of drugs in the world and we are going to bid properly,” Trump said. “Pharma has a lot of lobbyists and a lot of power.”
